Chasing Icons : Hitting Classic Lines at Big Sky

What a way to kick off day one of the Chasing Icons trip!

Big Sky was an absolute no brainer to kick off the road trip—Montana has been having an epic winter—meaning day one would be spent hitting some iconic Big Sky lines: the Big Couloir and Dictator chutes.

Old man winter has been treating Montana well this year. Todd slashes through one of Big Sky's many hidden powder stashes.

One look from the prominent Lone Peak, which sits at 11,166ft, and you quickly understand why they call this big sky country. The expansiveness of the landscape is ridiculous, so open that you can even see the Tetons and Bridgers off in the distance.

It's nicknamed big sky country for a reason, from the top of lone peak you can see three states: Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.

It’s been awesome to see Big Sky blossom from an underground resort into a destination stop, all the whilestaying true to its original wild west character.

The locals (who party hard, even by our standards) definitely contribute to this unique western-esque culture. Apparently, they’re notorious for hiding stashes of liquor across the mountain. We’re bummed to be missing out on the dirtbag comp in April, which crowns a King and Queen for equally partying and skiing the hardest.

Big Sky has an extremely varied terrain—ranging from steep iconic chutes to plentiful backcountry—as Amie demonstrates, it's all fun.

There’s a hearty mixture of luxury and dirt baggery here, but when it comes down to it, everyone comes to Big Sky for the same thing: rowdy big mountain skiing.

For riding, we linked up with local athlete Kyle Taylor. The born and bred Montanan continues to call Big Sky home for its the low key vibe. “We never have a bad snow year,” Kyle told us. He loves being able to ride a resort with the potential to sneak off and disappear in the wilderness. “It’s such a great community of people, and the backcountry access is awesome.”

Kyle Taylor played tour guide for our rag tag crew. The combination of a relaxed western vibe with epic terrain  is what keeps this local hanging around.

Together, we explored classic lines across the mountain, our favorite being the Headwaters. It’s north facing, which keeps its 45 degree chutes niiiiiiice and cold. Tom the patroller—who sets Big Sky’s gates—helped us get into the kular, and it was absolutely prime.

For the full experience, finish your day with a local brew and some burgers at Everett.

We finished our day off at the Everett for some much needed grub. It was hard to decide which was better: the burgers or the mountain views. If we’d had time for some après, Scissor Bills is apparently the spot, but we’ve got an early day with heading to Jackson tomorrow. It’s been a while since we’ve been back to JH, and we’re stoked to link up with some old friends and hopefully check out the backcountry!